c.1950 Harmony "Gene Autry Melody Ranch" Guitar
This model was made in the early 1940s and also the late 1940s into the 1950s. It's a typical 12-fret "parlor" sized guitar -- 13" lower bout, 24 1/4" scale length, etc. I have a hunch this is an earlier one from the 40s, but I've hedged my bets by giving it a "c.1950" tag in the header!
Work included a neck set, two hairline crack repairs (top and back, good and tight to begin with), as well as a reglue of the original bridge, a fret dress and of course, full setup. Plays really nice with that old-time tone for sure. It's ladder-braced, but by this time Harmony realized they needed to add another brace to keep the top from folding... so it's nice and stable unlike some of the 1930s versions of this guitar.
Sound is warm, rich, sustained, and pretty full with pretty good volume. Of course, you don't get that big and snappy bass like you'd have on a bigger-bodied, long-scaled guitar, but it's a great fingerpicking or accompaniment instrument... or choppy-chords for backing work instrument. Lead lines on it feel a bit like the poppy zing with rich overtones you'd get with an archtop.
Work included a neck set, two hairline crack repairs (top and back, good and tight to begin with), as well as a reglue of the original bridge, a fret dress and of course, full setup. Plays really nice with that old-time tone for sure. It's ladder-braced, but by this time Harmony realized they needed to add another brace to keep the top from folding... so it's nice and stable unlike some of the 1930s versions of this guitar.
Sound is warm, rich, sustained, and pretty full with pretty good volume. Of course, you don't get that big and snappy bass like you'd have on a bigger-bodied, long-scaled guitar, but it's a great fingerpicking or accompaniment instrument... or choppy-chords for backing work instrument. Lead lines on it feel a bit like the poppy zing with rich overtones you'd get with an archtop.
Guitar has a solid spruce top and solid birch back and sides. Fretboard and bridge are of an undetermind decent-quality hardwood with uniform dark color.
Please excuse the flourescent lighting... this is a warmer, mellower-looking guitar in person. It's raining AGAIN outside, and I feel a bit too excited to go get a corner lit up with a bunch of incandescents.
Guitar is all-original with the exception of new bridge pins and a couple of MOP dots inlaid on the bridge wings.
MOP markers. I'm at a loss for what kind of wood the fretboard and bridge are. They're dark, but don't feel like ebony, nor rosewood. They polish up like ebony, though, and are pretty dense. Definitely not your usual fruitwood with dark stain as the bridge is a uniform color throughout and so is the fretboard.
Original compensated bone saddle.
End pin, guitar is bound on top edge and soundhole with white/cream celluloid.
Comments
Do you ever upload sound clips? I've been looking for a nice parlor guitar, and the artwork on this one really puts it over the top (in my book).